De Blasio hints Bezos affair may have affected Amazon's decision to leave New York City

Gov. Cuomo made a stop at the Louis S. Wolk Jewish Community Center of Greater Rochester to talk about a property tax cap and income tax cut.
Tina MacIntyre-Yee and Virginia Butler, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio hinted as much during an appearance Friday morning on MSNBC's Morning Joe.

"I think we could all say that unusual things were happening within the Amazon family at that moment in time, and that was said politely," de Blasio said. "There was clearly some unusual factors happening."

The decision was abrupt and shocked de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who both led the negotiations to land Amazon.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio testifies during a joint legislative budget hearing on local government Monday, Feb. 11, 2019, in Albany, N.Y.(Photo: Hans Pennink, AP)

Mayor's comments

A month earlier, Bezos announced he and his wife were divorcing after 25 years of marriage, and the National Enquirer published photos and texts showing him in an extramarital affair with a former news anchor.

MSNBC contributor Noah Rothman followed up after de Blasio's initial comments and asked if the Democratic mayor thought the affair had something to do with Amazon's decision.

"I only am saying it was an unusual environment," de Blasio responded.

Then host Willie Geist pressed de Blasio again.

"It means that a deal was struck and that deal was moving forward for weeks and weeks and weeks," the mayor said. "No one discussed anything changing. I want to be clear about this."

Soon after, Geist went back to de Blasio's comments, asking, "Mr. Mayor, you floated something out that we've got to pin you down on – you believe Jeff Bezos’ affair somehow..."

Pressing de Blasio

Geist later got back to the issue during the interview, saying, "You believe that part of the reason perhaps this deal unraveled is because of what was happening internally at Amazon?"

And de Blasio said, "There was a lot of turmoil. There was a lot of turmoil, let's just put it in..."

He added, "A decision was made in a very arbitrary fashion."

Amazon declined to comment on the mayor's remarks. The company has maintained local opposition scuttled the deal.

"For Amazon, the commitment to build a new headquarters requires positive, collaborative relationships with state and local elected officials who will be supportive over the long-term," the company said at the time.